Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-10-24
lally ress ana 1aaotaiaa
SPARKS CONSCIENCE.

4sue proof Oh MS p~IeenpGion claim, on
he had lived for over three years.
n due time he received notice that he
proof vas made Ii day later shan the
late IL tbs pub sued notice of Intention.
wife, no had worked hard all these
j ears TO help aeoura the home, wrote TO
Oo.nm Sparks In August last
explaining the case, II a few days ago
.eceiYeu o fepiy stating that the new
proof must be made. Her letter to the |
Commissioners is as Follows:
-, Dakota, Aug, IL, l8S7--Mr.
commisslonsr OF public lands,
Washington, ID. o.: Sir--We r. celved u
notioe from you to-day stating thai We
1ouia be- Obliged to make hnal proof oil
our claim over again, which ID tho south
nalf OF the southwest quarter OF
"a. township, SO, range 81.
! cannon tell you what this will cost
us 1t there ls no other alternative,
When VIZ came to Dakota, the 9th day
OF March, 1884, We had Just 10 cents.
My husband got work right away and
looking for land to make us
a home. In April he found this eighty
acres lying vacant; all the other land
for miles was taken up; he Immediately
filed q pre-emptlou on 1t, built a small
house and We moved on to it, where /
and our little boy stayed all summer,
ny husband comming home every
Saturday night and gong back to work
again Monday morning. In this way
We managed to stay on our land and get
the required mount OF breaking done
and other necessary improvements made
and enough to live on through the
win ter. The next year We Harmed it and
lived there continually until the 9th of
May 1887. My husband found y piece
OF land cornertng ours that be could buy,
and paid $300(three hundred dollass)tor
the REIMBURSEMENT of it and filed q
homestead on it. We moved our house
from our presumption and are now Lying
on our homestead. The way the mis-
take OF n day came to be In our proof
was partly owing to a terrible blizzard
MS we lived SIXTY miles from the Yankton
land office, where our proof was taken
in January. When they got
to Scotland, thirty miles OF
the way, the storm was SO bad they were
Obliged to leave tine team and take the
cars. This was the 18th OF January.
When they got to the land otice st
Yenkton they found we had iailed to
bring IN afidayis from the publisher
who had pTIated the final proof notice,
SO they tels9faphed back to Scotland
to have is sent, and the sno was SO bad
the train didn't get TO Yankton until toe
late to do anything that day, the 14tn ;
80 Eay husband made his proof b next
/ l.r Las. y rr 4 Et ~ "a "A, LII e
Dor know that We have lived or our land
continually sad III good falth tor the
purpose of having q nome until we got
She homestead We live on now. How
can We live on this and prove up again
on the eIghty-acre presumption? Mus,
we loss oar homestead right and tue
$500 we paid tor it or the presumption ?
God knows We have lived up to the Law
In every respect. Pardon me if l have
oyertaxed yonr patience, but Icannoi
help explaining this to you. Sir, If you
could realize nov hard IL is to make q
living Tor u poor mar here you would
not obilgs ns to readvertise and make q
new proof. all of which will cost as $50
or S40, and that Means over o hundred
bushels, OF wheat at present prices. il
does seem to ms one day could make nc
shO hKOOfs VIZ CHh 6b6xly
prove to your satisfaction that there
was no n TO contest our right to do so
We will anxioosly await your reply
Yours truly. --.
THIS letter was shown 10 Eden Max.
we'll, ar old resident OF Scotland, who
vouohes for the truth of each ssatemeni
made therein. MIR. Maxwell also read
Sparks mournful howl sent out from
Washington on the 10Th inst, in whIet
he says that the s'honest settler of tn,
territories are with me- but the corpor,
atoms and laud sharks are dashing him
to the wall. This statement by the COM
missioner aroused the ire of the Dako-
%taian, and he sent the following letter
which no doubt enbodies the sentiment
of o great many Dakota people.
Scotland, ID. L. Oct. 81, 1887. TO A
j. Sparks, Sir: II makes me feel lik,
making the air blue with blasphemy Il
reaa what you have said to the people o
this country on the 18th inst. You are
liar beyond all computation Of the word
when you gay ''the honest settlers Of ths
territory are with you" By your ridi-
cnlous requirements, and general hold
ing up OF all land proofs, You have dc.
yised neH mean for q new class OF land
SHARKS to plumber our people. Before
you were appointed commissioner act
tiers had only to pay land agents fol
getting their papers and ~afidavits, be-
tween the time of filing and making
proof; then their trouble was over. Now
they have to pay extravaganza fees of ali
kinds, to the new class you have created
both here and at Washington: from thu
time proof is made in Dakota till the
patent issued at the Dational capital. II
many cases and for trivial causes you de.
mand new proofs, and no attention e
appeals from anyone, say We are all IN
worthy of belief, and when your de-
mands are not promptly complied with
yen cancel our lands by q dictatoria,
letter, marked X. or 81, which reads like
an ultimatnm from Johnny Bull to the
Turks. Letters like the enclosed &C
to you from Dakota every day, and Their
into your Washington waste basket,
| know every word OF the one that ac-
companies this to be true; it tells of g
settlers life, aud q hard government
from q too. 1t is en- outrage
and q shame and makes o twenty-yeal
resident here feel like using bad
language when he reads that the honest
settlers OF the territories are with you
You bulidozing tyrant from Illinois
Yours, EDEN MAXWELL.
What a Duncei
1 suffered with fever, hot head and foul breath
With stomach disordered-was sick unto death
I bore it a week surely I was a Ounce
TheE 1 took a few Pellets they onrea NE al
oecc.
What a Ounce, indeed. TO neglect suci